Commodification and heroic masculinity: Interrogating race and the NFL quarterback in super bowl commercials

Abstract

Framed in understandings of sport hero as celebrity and in an increasingly commodified celebrity culture and the commodity context of Super Bowl advertising, this chapter is reliant on critical analysis set broadly at the intersection of consumer culture theory, a dirt theory of narrative ethics, the mediasport interpellation, and critical race theory. The analysis interrogates representative narratives drawn from a sample of Super Bowl commercial advertising broadcast since 2000. Focused on are a group of advertising narratives that featured U.S. National Football League quarterbacks known for their heroic on-field exploits. The analysis provides understandings about those attributes of heroic sporting masculinity that are deemed desirable for showcasing in one of the most expensive advertising venues in the world and sheds light about the intersections of race and the articulation of heroic masculinity in commodity narratives.